When I came to live in France one of the historical events that I didn’t know very much about was the tragic destruction of Cambodia, otherwise known as the killing fields.  I started to hear more about it and my curiosity led me to pick up In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner.  I don’t flock so easily to nonfiction although in the past three years I have to say I’m reading more of it.  This being said I decided to read this novel a few years back with a book club. You can read my blog review here and check out my video review here.  I hope to get to Music of the Ghosts in 2020, which is a continuation of In the Shadow of the Banyan.

I highly recommend In the Shadow of the Banyan to readers who are interested in a fictional account(based on the author’s life) of the Khmer Rouge take over of Cambodia and reading a novel with beautiful writing.

Overview:

“Displaying the author’s extraordinary gift for language, In the Shadow of the Banyan is testament to the transcendent power of narrative and a brilliantly wrought tale of human resilience.

For seven-year-old Raami, the shattering end of childhood begins with the footsteps of her father returning home in the early dawn hours bringing details of the civil war that has overwhelmed the streets of Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital. Soon the family’s world of carefully guarded royal privilege is swept up in the chaos of revolution and forced exodus…” (In the Shadow of the Banyan, inside cover)

In the Shadow of the Banyan – Vaddey Ratner

Publisher:  Simon and Schuster

Pages:  322

My rating:   ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

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